In 2015, the CISH created the International Prize for History.
This prize honors historians who have distinguished themselves in the field of history through their research, publications, and teaching, and who have made a significant contribution to the development of historical knowledge.
The excellence of the laureate’s work is recognized by their peers. Through this prize, their commitment to the advancement of the historical sciences is fully acknowledged.
The International Prize for History is awarded to
Anthony Grafton
Emeritus at Princeton University, he is the laureate of the International Prize for History 2026.
Grafton’s exceptional productivity has made him one of the most prominent historians of our time. He is the author or editor of forty-three books and over 200 articles and book chapters. Just as impressive, his topics vary widely, from early modern intellectual history to the history of science and magic to Jewish history to history of the book.
He is teaching history as a discipline that encourages dialogue and a shared mission to find historical truth, among contemporaries and later generations.
The award will be delivered in Rome, Italy on 15 October 2026.
The fourth edition of the International Prize for History was awarded to Laura de Mello e Souza, for her intellectual and academic career, alongside the exceptional quality, originality and uniqueness of her work.
For more than four decades, Laura de Mello e Souza has engaged with various trends and waves in historiography, both international and Brazilian, contributing to the progress of historical research and to the dialogue between cultures, opening many new perspectives and training generations of scholars. Social and cultural history have always been her fields of choice, but she has also combined them with political, religious, and literary history.
Her many publications include Os Desclassificados do Ouro, O Diabo na Terra de Santa Cruz, O Sol e a Sombra: política e administração na América portuguesa do século XVIII (São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2006), Cláudio Manuel da Costa: o letrado dividido.
The award was delivered during the CISH General Assembly in Tokyo on 27 October 2024.
A specialist of the early modern period (15th-18th centuries), Sanjay Subrahmanyam is the author of numerous books, essays, and edited volumes, ranging between studies of India and the Indian Ocean, the early modern European empires, and reflections on global history as a field of research.
His publications include Aux origines de l’histoire globale; The Cambridge World History, Vol. VI: The Construction of a Global World, 1400-1800; Historical Teleologies in the Modern World; Europe’s India: Words, People, Empires, 1500–1800; Empires Between Islam and Christianity, 1500-1800; Faut-il universaliser l’histoire? Entre dérives nationalistes et identitaires; Les Peuples de l’Orient au milieu du XVIe siècle: Le Codex Casanatense 1889.
The award was delivered during the 23rd International Congress of Historical Sciences in Poznań, Poland, in August 2022.
A specialist in late medieval and early modern religious history in Hungary and Europe, Gábor Klaniczay is professor of Medieval Studies at the Central European University, Budapest.
With the insights of historical anthropology he researches what were the historical uses of heresy, sainthood, visions, stigmatics, magic, and witchcraft.
His books include The Uses of Supernatural Power. The Transformations of Popular Religion in Medieval and Early Modern Europe; Szent Margit legendái és stigmái [Legends and stigmata of Saint Margaret]; Holy Rulers and Blessed Princesses. Dynastic Cults in Medieval Central Europe; Procès de canonisation au Moyen Âge. Aspects juridiques et religieux; Witchcraft Mythologies and Persecutions; Saints of the Christianization Age of Central Europe.
The award was delivered during the CISH General Assembly in September 2017 in Moscow.
For the first laureate of the prize, the Board selected Serge Gruzinski (École des hautes études en sciences sociales and CNRS, Paris, France) from a pool of excellent and highly qualified candidates.
A specialist in the history of Latin America in the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries, Serge Gruzinski is a pioneer in reflecting on questions of global and transnational history. He has popularized key notions such as «métissage» and «cultural circulation» across borders.
His books include La Pensée métisse; Quelle heure est-il là-bas? Amérique et Islam à l’orée des temps modernes; L’Aigle et le Dragon. Démesure européenne et mondialisation au XVIe siècle; L’Histoire pour quoi faire?
Serge Gruzinski received the award during the 22nd International Congress of Historical Sciences in Jinan, China.
The CISH-Board is very pleased to inform that Prof. Anthony Grafton (Princeton University) is the laureate of the International Prize for History 2026. Grafton’s exceptional productivity has made him one of the most prominent historians of our time. He is the author or editor of forty-three books and over 200 articles and book chapters. Just…
Call for Applications International Prize for History Awarded by Comité International des Sciences Historiques (CISH) The Prize is given to individuals deserving of special recognition by reason of their outstanding contributions to knowledge in the historical discipline through their works, publications and teaching. The Prize was first awarded at the CISH General Assembly of 2015 in…
The fourth edition of the International Prize for History CISH 2024 will be awarded to Laura de Mello e Souza, for her intellectual and academic career, alongside the exceptional quality, originality and uniqueness of her work. For more than four decades, Laura de Mello e Souza has engaged with various trends and waves in historiography,…
